Actuating mechanism for motion-picture cameras and the like



A. s. HOWELL. ACTUATING MECHANISM FOR MOTION PICTURE CAMERAS AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. Il

Patented May 30, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

-A." S. HOWELL.

ACTUATING MECHANISM FOR MOTION PICTURE CAMERASI AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILED ocT. I1', 1919.

1,417,525. Patented my 3o, 1922.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

faz/'en for /erz S. Howe/ Ars. HOWELL. ACTUATING IVIECHANISM FOR IVIOI'ION PICTURE CAMERAS AND THE LIKE.

' I APPLICATION FILED OCT.. II. 1919. V 1,417,525.

s SHEETS-SHEET a.

Patented May 30, 1922.

55m/wmf UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT S. HOWELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR.TO BELL AND HOWELL COM- PANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,

A CORPORATION or ILLINOIS.

ACTUABING llllfECI-I AIN'ISIIl/Il FORMOTION-PICTURE CAMERAS .AND THE LIKE.

{Drginal application filed April` 28, 1919, Serial No. 293,249. Divided and this application led Detober Serial No. 330,143.

.To all whom it may concer/n.'

Be it known that I, ALBERT S. HOWELL, a citizen of the United` States, residin at Chicago, in the county of Cook and tate of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Actuating Mechanism for Motion-Picture Cameras and the like, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference be ing had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification. My invention relates to actuating mecha-- nism for motion picture cameras and `the like and has particular relation to the shutter and film feeding mechanisms thereof.

The features of the present invention relate Ato the shutter and lm feeding mechanism with a view toward compactness, ease of operation, manipulation and accessibility particularly with relation to film threading operations, a relatively small number of operating parts and adaptability thereof to an enclosed film magazine type camera of convenient dimensions, and wh1ch is particularly adapted to an enclosed film magazine type of camera described and claimed in U. S. application Serial No. 293,249 filed by me April 28, 1919, for improvement in motion picture cameras and tripods of which the present application is a division.

The above features and certain other features hereinafter .appearing are embodied in the preferred form of my invention hereinafter fully described and illustrated in the-accompanying drawings, and are effected by certain novel constructions, combinations and arrangements of parts partic-ularly pointed out in the claims.

In the said drawings Fig. 1 is a sectional view in side elevation of a motion picture camera embodying the features of my invention in their preferred form, this view being taken substantially on the line 1-1 of Fig. 3 described below.'- Fig. 2 is a partial sectional view in plan elevation of the same substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. l with certain of the parts in different 'positions as hereinafter described. Fig. 3is a sectional view in front elevation of the same substantially on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an enlarged Patented' May 30, i922.

fragmentary sectional View on the line 1--1 of Fig. 3, showin the parts in different positions than those 1n which-they are shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is an enlarged view in side elevation of the cam cylinder hereinafter described.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts in the various views.

The casing of the camera is formed of a central frame 2 vand a closure 3 fitted to the central frame on either side thereof to form an enclosure thereabo'ut, the central frame forming the central portion 4Y of the rear wall of the camera and the center rearward portions of the upper and lower walls of of the camera while the closures 3 form the front wall and complete the rear, top and bottom walls. The rear Wall portions ofthe closures 3 are pivoted to the rear Wall portion of the central frame by means of hinges 7 and are secured in closed position upon the central frame 2 by screws 12. The meeting edges of the frame 2 and closures 3 are stepped correspondingly, and the meeting edges of the front wall portions of theclosures 3 are provided with oppositely disposed semicircular concave portions form,

ing a circular opening in the enclosure when the closures are in closed position. Mounted in this opening is a buslr20 secured to one of the closures and a camera lens 23 of usual construction is carried within the bore thereof, all as fully described and claimed in the aforementioned U. S. application, Serial No. Y

293,249 filed by me April 28, 1919.

The manner in which'the camera lens 23 is carried within the bush 20 is'fully de-v the upper and lower wall'portions of the central frame and term-inatmg at its front end in an enlargement in which the bore of the formation is enlarged `as indicated at 25,

the front end of this formation being supported by ribs 26 and 27 respectively extending between the upper wall portion of the central frame and the formation and the lower wall ortion of the central frame and the formation. Mounted for rotation on bearings 28 Within the bore of this formation is a4 horizontal shaft 30, and afiixed to the front end of this shaft within the enlarged bore 25 is arelatively large spur gear 31. The front end of the formation is facedin a vertical plane just in front of the gear 31, and a supplemental frame 32 is secured to this face by headed screws 33, see Figs. 2 and 3, and -encloses the front end of said enlarged bore 25. This supplemental frame is bored vertically, as indicated at 34, and has a hori zontal face at its upper end. See Figs. 1 and 2. Secured to this face of the supplemental frame by means of headed screws 35 is an extension frame 36 having a turned extension 37 at its lower end projecting downwardly into the upper endofthe bore 34 and engaging the sides thereof to center the extension frame with said bore; The extension frame 36 is provided with a vertical bore 38 smaller than bore 34 and disposed concentrically thereto, and the bore 34 is restricted at the lower end of the frame 32 to form a small bore 39 disposed concentrically to said bore 34. Extending through bores 34, 38, and 39 is a vertically disposed shaft 40 which is mounted on a bearing 41 disposed adjacent each end of the shaft and supported respectively in bores 38 and 39, the axis ofA this shaft being normal tothe axis of gear 31, and shaft 30,1and disposed on one side of the plane of the gear.

Secured upon the shaft by means of set screws 42, screw-threaded into it and engaging respective conical depressions formed in the shaft, is a cam cylinder 44. The lower end of this cam cylinder forms .a drum cam having a cam groove 45 and the extreme upper end of this cam cylinder forms a face cam disposed coaxially with the drum cam groove 45 and having a cam groove 46 facing upwardly. See Figs. 2, 3, and 6. Y

The front side of the supplemental frame 32 is faced in a vertical plane and secured to this face by headed screws 47, see Fig. 3, in parallel spacedrelation and extending vertically is a pair of vslides 48 having vertical grooves facing each other. A AU -shaped shuttle 49, having the legs of the U-shape thereof extending upwardly, is disposed between these slides and has its side edges engaging said grooves to form a slide mounting for the shuttle. Mounted on the shuttle at the transverse portion of the U-shape at the lower end thereof and disposed midway between the slides 48 is a stud 50 which extends inwardly toward shaft 40 through a vertical slot 51 in the supplemental frame 32, and mounted for rotation on the inner end of this stud is a roller 52 which is engaged with the cam groove 45 of the drum cam whereby the shuttle is reciprocated in a vertical path parallel to the axis of the cams as the cams are rotated.

The lower end of the turned extension 3T of the extension frame 36 is disposed some distance above the upper end of the cam cylinder, and secured on the bottom of said extension 37 and entending in a forward and rearward direction is a second pair of slides 53 having horizontal grooves disposed normal to the plane of said shuttle and disposed in parallel spaced relation facing each other. The slides 53 are disposed on either side of the shaft 40, and a slide block 54, having an aperture 55 through which shaft 40 passes, see Figs. 2y and 5, has its side edges engaging said grooves to form a slide mount- ,.ing for the slide block. A downwardly extending stud 247 is secured to the slide block just forward of the aperture 55, and mount'- ed on this stud is' a roller 248 which is en gaged in the cam groove 46 whereby the slide block is reciprocated in a horizontal path normal to the path of the shuttle 49. The slide block extends forwardly through an opening in the supplemental frame and the front end thereof is provided with two spaced downwardly extending lugs 5G disposed one at each side of the slide block. Disposed just in front of the shuttle is a register leaf 57 which has its rear broad side secured to said lugs by headed screws 58. This register leaf has one complete broad side, the rear of which is secured to lugs 5G. and has parallel edges 59, the edges that are parallel to the path ofthe shuttle 49, upstanding therefrom to form edge guides for the film, and retaining portions 60 extending from said edges toward each other in spaced relation with said complete broad side and spaced from each other throughout the entire length of the leaf to leave the center portion of this side open whereby a film may be inserted in the register leaf therethrough by bending the film lengthwise to permit thc side edges thereof to pass through said` opening. This register leaf is fully de-. scribed and claimed in the aforementioned U. S. application Serial No. 293,249, filed by me April 28, 1919.

'Formed on the supplemental frame 32 and extending to one side and in front thereof is a pair of supports 62 disposed in vertical spaced relation with each other. A bush 63 is fitted to each support at the outer end thereof. These bushes are disposed coaxially on a vertical axis and the upper hush has an upwardly facing conical surface and the lower bush has a downwardly facing conical surface, which receive respective conical .ends of adjustable bearing screws 64` scre wthreaded into and clamped in adjusted position in respective wings 65, disposed respectively above and below the suplports 62, of'a shutter frame 66 whereby the s utter frame is pivotally mounted forlimited swinging movement upon the supplemental frame 32, on an axis parallel to the axis'of the cams and disposed to one side of the axis of the cams, which shutter frame, when in` closed or functioning position, see Fig. 1, lies transversely just infront of register leaf 57, and which, when open, see Fig. 2, lies longitudinally to one side of said register leaf to allow the film to be inserted into the register leaf as above described and to permit access to the mechanism. I

The opening formed by the upright U- shape of the shuttle 49 as designated at 67 v registe'r'leaf and engage the usual side perallows verticalreciprocal movements thereof without interference with slide block 54 or the support 96 hereinafter described, and mounted, one on each side of the shuttle, at the free ends 'of the legs thereof are two horizontally spaced shuttle pins -68 projecting forwardly therefrom. -When the register leaf is positioned in its rear position these shuttle pins project through respective ver, tical slots 69 formed in the rear side of the' forations in a film held in the register leaf and move the same downwardly with the downward movement of the shuttle. Mounted on the rear side of the shutter frame and projecting rearwardly therefrom and disposedv below the lowest position of the shuttle pinsv 68 is a pair of stationary ilot pins 70 which are spaced in a horizonta .plane and adapted, when the shutter frame is in closed position, see Fig. 1, and the register leaf is in its 'forwardpositiom to project through respective apertures 71 formed in the' retaining portions 60 and the rear side of the register leaf to insure the film remaining stationary while the shuttle pins are n ot in engagement with perforations thereof.=f- In the operation of this step by stepV mechanism the movements of the shuttle take place in the following order by reason of the timed relation of the cam grooves 4 5 and 46 which actuate the shuttle 49 and register leaf 57 in reciprocal paths v normal v.to each other as hereinbefore described. Starting in the cycle of operation as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, where the shuttle is at the lower end of its stroke, the register leaf is in its forward position to hold the film in engagement with the stationary pilot pins 70 projecting through apertures 71 to engage the film and hold it stationary. As the cam cylinder 44 turns, in a counter-clockwise direction, see the arrow in Fig. 2, the cam groove 45, acting through means hereinbefore described, moves the shuttle upwardly,

perforations of the film being disengagedv from the shuttle pins 68 during this movement by reason of the fact that the register leaf 57 is held in its forward position with the film therein forward of the path of said shuttle pins, perforations of the film being engaged with stationary pilot pins 70 when in this position. When the shuttle reaches the upper end of its movement the cam groove 46, acting through means hereinbev fore described, 'moves the register leaf 57 rearwardly to vdisengag'e perforations of the film from stationary pilot pins 70 and to engage perforations of the film with shuttle pins 68. Fig. 5 shows the position of the vparts just after the shuttle has reached the upper end of its movement and before the register leaf is moved inwardly to engage perforations of the film with pins 68. After perforations of the film have been engaged by the shuttle pins the cam groove 45 moves' frame is in closed positionto 'position the same. The shutter frame is maintained in itsV closed position with stud 72 engaging the front face of the adjacent slide by a hook latch lever 73 pivoted on a vertically dis-v posed pin 74 mounted on the shutter frame and disposed within a horizontal slot 75 formed in the shutter frame. This latch lever extends forwardly and rearwardly of the pin 74 and has a hook 76 facing forwardly when the vshutter frame is in closedposition, which hook engages the rear surface of the adjacent slide 48, at a point where the supplemental frame 32 is cut away, as designated at 77, see Fig. 2, when the shutter frame is in closed position to maintain'the stud 72 in engagement with said adjacent slide 48. A coiled compression spring 78 is dispcsed in a horizontaLbore of the shutter frame in front of the pin 74 and abuts the latch lever and the bottom of said bore a'nd normally maintains the latch lever in locked position, see Fig. 2. The front end of the latch lever extends beyond the shutter frame so that it may be conveniently manipulated to move the shutter frame from its closed position.

As hereinbefore described the gear 31 is affixed to the front end of shaft 30 within the enlarged bore 25 enclosed by supplemental frame 32. The supplemental frame 32 is extended 'laterally at the side from which supports 62 extend'and between the same, and a horizontal bore y79 is formed therein, see Fig. 2, parallel with shaft 30 and alongside and communicating with bore 34 -of the frame 32 and enlarged bore 25. Disposed within this bore and rotatably supported therein on bearings 80, on an axis parallel with shaft dand normal to the axis of the cam cylinder and extending past one side of the cam cylinder' between the axis of the cam cylinder and the axisof the shutter frame, is a shaft 8l. ormed on the rear'end of this `sha andmeshing with gear 3l is a relatively small spur gear 82. nlie cam cylinder has oiral gear teethl83 formed thereon which aesh with d spiral gear 84 lix'edly mounted on shaft s aetween bearings 8O whereby the carn cylinder is driven from shaft 3G. il shutter shaft 85 is mounted in hearings 86 within a vocre of the wail of the shutter frame disposed to aline with shaft 8l when the shutter frame is in closed position. lllixedly mountedon the front end of shaft 8l is a forwardly facing crown wheel 8T, and fixedly mounted at the rearvend of shutter shaft 85 a rearwardly facing crown wheel 88 having the same number ofjteetli as the crown wheel 87 and engaged `therewith. rlhe. pivotal axis of the shutter frame is so disppsed with relation 'to these' wheels 87 and 88 that teeth thereof are always meshed in driving relation regardless of the pivotal position of the shutter frame see Fig. 2.

The maintenance of the driving relation between the shutter and cams dispenses with the necessity of the operator recoupling the same in moving the shutter infunctioning position, and the arrangement thereof with relation to spiral gear 84 permits this gear remaining stationary with thev cams, thus permitting a simple arrangement well adapted for the design of camera illustrated. When the shutter frame is in closed or functioning position all of the teeth of each of these gears are intermeshed.

Itlis necessary that the shutter shaft 85 make one revolutionto each revolution of the cam cylinder 44. kThe intermeshing spiral gear teeth 83 and spiral gear 84 permit of this without enlarging the mechanism, either by multiplying the parts or separating the present parts to an inconvenient and possibly impractical degree. It will be noted that the pitch diameter of gear 84 is smaller than the pitch diameter of spiral gear teeth 83 whose size is controlled by the size 0f the cam cylinder 44. Therefore, to effect the present compact Varrangement the spiral gear 84 has "the same number of teeth as there are spiral gear teeth 83 and the angle ofthe gear teeth 83 with relation to the axis of the cam cylinder is greater than the angle of the teeth of spiral gear 84 with relation to the axis of shaft 8l, in the present case this angle of spiral gear teeth 83 being 57 and the angle of the teeth of spiral gear 84 being 33.

In the driving train above described,

and 'is The angles of spiral gear teeth 83 and spiral 1 gear 84 are so disposed that the shaft 40 and cain cylinder 44 rotate in a counterclockwise direction as before described. rlihe shutter shaft rota-tes in the same direction as does the shaft 8l by reason of the connection 'therebetween as hereinbefore described.

The shutter frame 66 has a forwardly facing enlarged bore 89 formed therein concentric with shutter shaft 857 and has a cover 90 secured to the front end thereof enclosing this bore. ter shaft within this bore is a shutter 91 of the usual adjustable aperture type, the 'adjiustment knob 92 ofy which extends through a concentric aperture 9 3 formed in the cover 90. See 2. l

'lhe rear wall of the shutter frame 66 is offset rearwardly in front of register leaf 57 and is provided with aframe aperture through which the image is projected on the film in the register leaf and the surrounding edge of this aperture is extended rearwardly to lie within the retaining portions 60 of the register leaf to press the film in the register leaf against the forward face of the rear broad side of the register leaf when the register leaf is in its forward position. The cover 90 has an aperture 95 in alinement with the aperture 94 with relation to lens 23 and light is transmitted through both of these apertures upon the film when the shutter is in exposing position to expose the film in the register leaf.

Secured upon the extension frame 36 is a support 96 extending vertically downwardly therefrom between lugs 56 of slide block 54, and .rearwardly of register leaf 57, the slide block being cut away rearwardly between said lugs as indicated at 97, to clear this support in all positions of the rslide block. Two rollers 98 are mounted for rotation on this support on a horizontal transverse axis and are disposed one above and o ne below the center portion of the register leaf,-

and these rollers are disposed to engage the center of the Hlm when the registerleaf is in its rearward position and hold the same forwardly away from the rear broad side of the register leaf when the shuttle is moving the film downwardly in the register leaf tov prevent scratching of the film by the register leaf. The cut away portion 67 of the shuttle is formed 'to clear this support in all positions of the shuttle.

Thelower end'of the supplemental frame 32 has a transverse horizontal bore 99 formed therein communicating withl the lower end of the hereinbefore described bore` 39 thereof. The upper end of the extension frame 36 has a transverse horizontal bore 100 formed therein communicating with the upper end of the hereinbefore described bore 38 thereof. Supported Afor rotation in each of these Vbores on two spaced bearings 101I is a film sprocket shaft 102 which is disposed normal -to the shaft 40. See Figs. 1 and3. These- ,shafts are disposed transversely ofthe camera and extend outwardly from their' step mechanism. See Fig. 3. A bevel gear pinion 103 is formed at each end of the shaft 40, and each of these pinions meshes with a bevel gear 104 fixed upon the adjacent shaft 102 and disposed between the respective bearings'lOl. These bevel gear connections are so arranged that the shafts 102 rotate in the same direction, counter-clockwise in Fig. 1. A film sprocketlO is fitted on the extending ends of each shaft 102 in the usual manner, and in the operation of the machine the film passes over the upper film sprocket 105 in front ofwhich it makes a downward spiral right hand loop, after which it passes downwardly through register leaf 57 and below this makes a second right hand loop and passes under the lower film sprocket 105 as indicated by the dot and dash line 106in Fig. 1.

Disposed one on each side of the tubular formation 24 of frame 2 and shaft 30 at the rear of the respective film sprockets 105 and disposed in parallelismwith each other is a pair of film magazines 108 the axes of which are coaxial., The axes of these film magazines are disposed in parallelism with said film sprockets and are coaxial withA a transverse tubular formation 109 disposed above the tubular formation 24 and shaft 30 and normal thereto. The usual film spools, not shown, in the magazines are driven from shaft 30 by a frictionally driven take-up mechanism which includes a concentrically bored gear sleeve 112 lprovided at its periphery with spiral gear teeth 113, a clutch sleeve 134 mounted in the bore of said gear sleeve, a spiral gear 137 meshing with gear teeth 113 and rotatably supported on shaft 30 and a friction clutch device 114 providing a fric` tional connection between shaft 30 and gear 137, see Fig. 1. This portion of the mechanism needs no further description for thel present purpose except that it is adapted to drive the film spool of the left hand magazine in Fig. 3 in a direction, clockwise in Fig. 1 to wind Afilm fed thereon from lower film sprocket 105jwhen the operating 'parts are actuated in a forward direction to take pictures as hereinabove described, and that it is adapted to drive the film spool of the right hand film magazine, in Fig. 3, in a direction counter-clockwise in Fig. 1 to wind film fed thereon from upper film sprocket 105 when the operating parts are actuatedl in a reverse direction asis desirable at times in .y

the operation of the machine.

The shape of the magazines in a plane normal to their axes is defined.Av by three 'quarters of a circle and two oppositely exs tending tangents thereof meeting at an angle of 900, see Fig. 1, and the vertically dis-` posed tangential side portion of each film magazineY 108 isprovided with a, film opening 146, which film openings are disposed in alinement with the respective film sprockets 105, see Fig. 3. A Ifilmv guide device 147 is provided for each film sprocket and serves, whenin closed position, to maintain the film in engagement with the respective film sprocket and to guide the film to and from the respective film opening 146. These film guide devices are mounted upon extensions of the supplemental frames 32 and 36 re.

spectively and vrequire no further description for the present purposes, and are fully describedand claimed in the aforementioned U. S. application, Serial No. 293,249, filed by me April 2s, 1919.

From the above it will be noted that the moving of the shutter to and from-its closed or operating'position is a very simple operation and that the'dr'iving devices of the same do not requirev attention in this operation, andthat when it is moved into closed position it is not necessary to time the same with the film feed mechanism nor is it necessary to operate the mechanism to bring automatic devices into play to time the shutter with the film feeding mechanism.- And `it will be noted further that the arrangement of the driving device. of the film feeding mechanism is very compact and consists of a relatively small number of parts, and that the mechanism is well adapted to an enclosed film magazine type of camera.

The film feeding mechanism herein described as unrelated Vto the shutter is fully described and claimed in U. S. application Serial No. 330,032, filed by me Oct. 11, 1919, for improvement in film feeding mechanism for motion picture cameras and the like divided from the aforementioned U. S. application, Serial No. 293,249, filed by me April 28, 1919.

While I have herein described' and shown the preferred embodiment of my invention I do not wish to be llimited to the precise details of construction shown as changes may readily be made without departing from the spirit of my invention, but having thus described my invention I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent the fol-l lowing:

1. A device of the nature described including a rotatably mounted spur gear, step by step mechanism including a. rotatably mounted cam disposed on an axis disposed on one side of the plane of said gear and normal to the axis thereof, a driving con-` nection between said gear and said cam including a spur gear meshing with said first mentioned gear and disposed on an axis parallel to the axis of said iirst mentioned ygear v and extending past one side of the axis of said cam and a spiral gearing connection between said second mentioned-gear and said. cam including a spiral gear disposed on an axis coincident with that of said second mentioned gear, a rotatably mounted shutter disposed on the side' of saidcam opposite said'first mentioned gear and disposed on an axis coincident `with said second mentioned gear, Aand a" driving connection -between said first mentioned driving connection and said shutter to rotate the same in unison with said cam.

2. A device ofthe nature described including a. 'rotatably mounted spur gear, step vby step mechanism including rotatably "mounted coaxial cams disposed on an axis disposed 'on one side of the plane of said gear and normal to the axis thereof, a rotatably mounted shaft disposed an axis parallel with the axis of said gear and-extending past one Side of the of said cams, a spur gear said shaft meshing with said first mentioned gear, a spiral gearing connection betweer said shaft and said cams including a spi al gear mounted on said shaft, a' rotatably mounted shatter disposed on the side of said cams opposite said first mentioned gear disposed. on an axis coincident with that of said shaft, and a driving connection betweensaid snaft and shutter` 3. A device of. the nature described including support means, step by step mechanism including coaxial cams rotatably mounted on said support means, a shaft rotatably mounted on said support means and disposed on an axis normal tothe axis of said cams and extending past they axis of said cams on one side thereof, a spira-l gear connection betwen said shaft and said cams including a spiral gear iixed .0n said shaft, a shutter support mounted for mov'.m ent relatively to said support means out i shutter :functioning position, a tably mounted onsaid shutter ort and disposed thereon to bevpositioned ,with 'the axis thereof coincident .with the exis of shaft when the shutter support n shutter functioning position., a drivi connec-- tion between said shaft and said tter including interengaged conpli members adapted to permlt movement of shutter with the shutter sup tioning position w relation between sali. A device of the 1 ing s :r includii f Mrt out of an i 'mit and ture desci by sten c vely nio nfl on sai for pivotal movement relatively to said sup-- port means out of and into shutter functioning position on an axis parallel to the axis of saidcain and disposed to one side thereof, a shutter, rotatably mounted on said shutter support on an axis normal to the axis of movement of the shutter support and disposedto extend between the axes of said cam and shutter support when the shutter frame is in shutter functioning position, and a driving connection between said cam and shutter including a spiral gear rotatably mounted on said support means on arf axis coincident with the axis of said shutter when the shnttersupport is in shuttenfunctioning position and engaged crown wheels having the same number of teeth adapted 'to maintain driving connection between said.

spiral gear and said shutter in all pivotal positions of the shutter support in its moveinent out of and into shutter functioning position. y

5.. A device of the nature described including support means, a spur gear rotatably mounted thereon, step by step mechanism including a cam rotatably mounted on aid support means and disposed on an axis lisposed on one side of the plane of said ,fear and normal to the .axis thereof, a driving connection between said gear and said camp, said driving connection being mounted on said support means and including a rotatably mounted spur gear meshing with said first mentioned gear and disposed on an axis parallel with the of said irst mentioned gear and extendingto one side of the axis of said cams and a spiral gearing connection between said second mentioned gear and said cams including a rotating spiral gear disposed coaxially with said second gear and rotatively fixed therewith, shutter support mounted for movement relatively to said support means out of and into shutter functioning position, a shutter rotatably mounted on said shutter support disposed to be positioned on the side of saidcam opposite said mentioned gear an axis coaxial with second nientioned spur gear when tle shutter support is in shutter functioning position driving connection between, said tioned driving connection and said including complementary eoupling .members adapted to permit movement of said shutter with the shutter funu .oningpositnnu 1 A. device of the described inrotata- `aereon, step l step :mecha- 1 coaxial said 'Sides er supper ont'of and into erl on said een nrt means and llt) said gear and extending past the axis of said cams on one side thereof, a spur gear on said' shaft and fixed to rotate therewith and meshing with said first mentioned spur gear, a spiral gearing connection between said shaft and said cams including a spiral gear on said shaft and fixed to rotate theref with, a shutter support mounted for pivotal number of teeth and adapted to maintainA a driving connection between said spiral gear and said shutter in all -pivotal positions of the shutter support i n its movement out of and into shutter functioning position.

7. A device of thenature described 1n-l cluding a frame forming an enclosure, step by step mechanism including a cam rotatably mounted on said frame and disposed within the enclosure thereof, a shutter sup: port disposed without the enclosure of said frame and mounted for movement relatively to said frame out of and into shutter functioning position, a shutter rotatably mounted on said shutter support and disposed `on an axis normal to the axis of said cam and extending past one side of the axis of said cam when the shuttersupport is in shutter functioning positlon, anda driving connection between said cam and said shutter including a spiral gear rotatably mount ed. within the enclosure ofsaid frame on an axis coincident with the axis of saidgsllutter y' wheny the shutter support is in shutter functioning position and complementary coupling members between said spiral gear and said shutter adapted to permit movement of said shutter with the shutter support out of and into vshutter functioning position.

8. A .device of the nature described including a frame forming an enclosure, .a

shutter supportdisposed without the enclosure of said frame and pivotally mounted thereon for movement out of and into shutter functioning position, step by step mechanism including coaxial lcams rotatably mounted on said frame and disposed within the enclosure thereof and stationary pilot pins mounted on the shutter frame and disv posed to function when said Shutter support 1s in shutter functioning position, a shutter rotatably mounted on said shutter support and disposed on an axis ln ormalto the axis of said cams and extending past one side of the axis of said cams when the shutter support is in shutter functioning position, and

'a driving connection between said cams and said shutter including a spiral gear rotatably mounted within the enclosure of said frame on an axis coincident with the axis of said shutter when the shutter support is in shutter .functioning position and engaged crown wheels, having the same number of teeth and adapted to maintain driving'connection between Said, spiral gear and the shutter in all pivotal positions of the shutter support in itsmovement out of and into shutter lfunctioning position.

9.'- A device of the character describedl in cluding aj frame provided with ahorizontal bore; a shaft rotatably mounted in said bore, said bore being enlarged at one'end; a

-gear'disposed within said enlarged bore and aiiixed, to said shaft; a supplemental frame secured to said first mentioned frame at the enlarged bore end thereof and enclosing said enlarged bore, said supplemental frame being bored; step by step mechanism including coaxial cams rotatably mounted in the bore of said'supplemental frame on an axis disposed normal to said shaft;a rotatory connection between said gear and said cams including a secondgear meshing with said first mentioned gear, and spiralv gearing; a shutter mechanism; and a rotatory connection between said shutter' mechanism and said first mentioned rotatory connection.

In witness whereof I hereunto affix my i signature this ninth day .of October, A. D. 1919. I

ALBERT S. HOWELL. 

